


You're Braver Than You Think

by peachykeen66



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Blood and Gore, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt Richie Tozier, M/M, Pennywise (IT) Being an Asshole, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sad Ending, richie dies instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21581986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachykeen66/pseuds/peachykeen66
Summary: Despite how murky and muddy and dirty the quarry was, the warmth on his skin and the sounds of those he loved made floating all that much nicer.Eddie was floating now, but it was nothing like the quarry.-OR- Eddie sees Mike and Pennywise in the cistern, getting caught in the deadlights instead of Richie.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 11
Kudos: 240





	You're Braver Than You Think

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So it's been almost a whole year since i've written like...anything, and Reddie has been on my mind for MONTHS. I was inspired so I wrote this thing stuck in my head! Also, this is mostly jsut a focus on Reddie, so the other losers are briefly mentioned or acknowledged really. DISCLAIMER: I wrote it at 5:30 this morning and didn't proofread so, yikes. Have fun!

When Eddie ventured into the quarry with his friends as a child, his favorite thing to do was quietly float in the water. He would close his eyes and listen as Richie and Bill and Stan would splash it the water and laugh at each other’s antics. It intensified when Bev, Mike, and Ben were added to the mix.

Despite how murky and muddy and _dirty_ the quarry was, the warmth on his skin and the sounds of those he loved made floating all that much nicer.

Eddie was floating now, but it was nothing like the quarry.

Everything around him was surrounded by a blinding white light, burning into his retinas- _my eyes are going to be so fucked after this_. The sounds of the cistern were drowned out by a whirring in his ears, by distant screams that sounded so familiar, but he couldn’t place.

*

_Eddie ran down the cavern, headlight glossing over damp stone as he made his way to the entrance, he and Richie ran down earlier. Speaking of- “Rich! C’mon, let’s go!” The taller of the two was farther behind then Eddie would have liked, but he had to get out and find the others._

_He climbed over the rocks and looked out for a sign that one of the other 4 were doing alright, that they hadn’t_ died _yet, when he snapped towards a strangled yell. It had Mike wrapped up in Its tentacles-hands? - and widen its jaw, preparing to swallow his childhood friend whole._

_Eddie gasped before reaching for the iron fence he had in his belt loop; only his hand grabbed nothing. He must’ve dropped it when they opened the ‘Very Scary’ door. Maybe Richie grabbed it on his way out of there. “Shit, shit, shit, fuck!”_

_Eddie looked around for something, anything he could use, before settling on a loose rock by his foot. If it could drive Bower’s Gang away, it could work on this clown, right?_

_He thought of Mike. He thought of Stan. He thought of Richie._

_He tossed the rock. He hit It square on the face. Mike and Pennywise were now staring at him._

“You’re braver than you think”.

_“Hey fuck face! Is this the best you got?”_

_Pennywise tossed Mike aside, slamming him into the rocks below,_ hard.

_That was going to hurt in a few hours._

_“You throw a dog behind a door and that’s suppose to scare me? You’ll have to do better than that.”_

_Eddie reached down and picked up another rock, getting ready to chuck it at the clown._

_“Beep, Beep, motherfu-!”_

_Eddie was floating now, and it was nothing like the quarry._

_*_

As suddenly as the lights and the screams and the blood came, it was gone. His legs slammed into the ground and he was sure something _crunched_ underneath him. Although, maybe that was in his head too.

He barely registers the moans and the _lava_ spewing from Pennywise’s mouth before his vision is filled with familiar dark curls, wide eyes, and the smell of cheap cologne.

“Hey, Eds you with me?”

Richie slapped his cheek lightly and Eddie groaned, suddenly more awake than he was before he crawled down the well. Richie was crouched over him, gently holding Eddie’s face in his hands. _An odd development._

“Huh?”

“Hey, there he is! Glad you came back to the land of the living Spaghetti Man.” Richie threw a thumb in the direction behind him, eyes never leaving Eddie’s. “You missed it though, I got him right in his ugly fuckin’ face!”

Eddie did look over slightly and saw the monstrous beast was knocked over, unmoving. _Holy shit._

“Holy shit, man.”

Richie laughed, sitting up slightly.

“Yeah, yeah, you can fawn over me later, let’s get you up and- “

Eddie flinched and closed his eyes as something wet, something _hot,_ splashed onto his face and clothing. He didn’t want to open his eyes; deep down he knew what he would find once he opened them.

_“You’re braver than you think”._

Eddie opened his eyes. Richie was still kneeling above him, hands closed around one of Its claws, which was currently piercing right through Richie’s chest. _I want to go home._

“E-eds?”

Eddie couldn’t breathe.

“Eddie.”

_Oh God._

“Richie?”

Somewhere behind him Bev screamed. Somewhere behind him Bill wailed. Yet he could only look at Richie, who was now being lifted, _torn,_ off Eddie into the air, before being discarded down another cavern. Eddie isn’t sure who got up the quickest, since he doesn’t even remember moving himself, but he was the first one to Richie, who was face down in the dirt and gravel, groaning under his breath.

_That’s going to get infected._

With Ben’s help, they turn Richie over, propping him up against the rock wall and Eddie’s heart nearly stops as he looks at the wound. Richie must do the same because-

“G-guess it could’ve been worse, huh fellas?”

Eddie wants to smack him. Instead he rips off his sweatshirt, folding it up and pressing it into Richie’s chest.

“Shut the fuck up, Rich.”

For once, Richie listens.

Outside the cavern entrance, Pennywise taunts them, claws slamming into the rocks surrounding them.

_“Was that scary enough for you Eddie? Now why don’t all you losers come out and play! Richie sure had a swell time!”_

Eddie shook his head, pressing harder into Richie’s chest. He couldn’t _think,_ not with Richie bleeding out under him, barely saying a word. It was unnerving and wasn’t _fucking right._ He heard the others discuss other possible means of escape and he found it hard to breath again. He felt like he was choking.

_Oh, shit._

“The leaper,”

The losers stopped and turned towards him. Even Richie, who was seemingly observing the whole situation, glanced at him, moving his hand on top of the one Eddie had holding his blood-soaked sweatshirt with.

_Fuck._

“In the pharmacy, when I saw It, I managed to grab it and choke it. I was killing It, I think.” Eddie turned back toward Richie, staring at their connected hands. “I made it weak…made it small.”

Mike’s face lit up. “The Shokopiwah! All living things must abide by the laws of the shape it inhabits!”

Bev cuts in, “So I-if we force It to become smaller- “

“The weaker it will be!”

Eddie doesn’t particularly listen to the plan, as he is focused on Richie and getting out of this _fucking gross_ cistern and into a goddamn hospital. As Bill, Bev, and Mike begin to make their way over to the entrance from earlier, Ben and Eddie do their best to maneuver Richie and resettle him down on the floor.

Ben, Bill, Mike, and Bev run off, and Eddie is left with Richie, who is now laughing quietly to himself.

“Mind sharing with the class what’s so fucking funny?”

Richie shrugged, wincing as soon as he does so.

“Don’ know, guess being kebabbed by a murder clown is sort of a funny situation.”

“Nothing about this is funny Rich, you’re probably getting god knows how many infections sitting here. There’s a gaping _hole_ in your fucking chest, which was rubbed against sewer covered rocks and gravel and _dirt._ Not to mention the thing that fucking _stabbed you._ The claw probably has some fucking rare disease or flesh-eating bacteria living in it, and I certainly won’t be carrying you out of here if it’s contagious but- “

Eddie cuts himself off as Richie laughs again, smile almost as wide as when he first realized Eddie was out of the deadlights. Eddie can’t help but think that despite the blood and dirt and grime, Richie has never looked more beautiful.

_Fuck._

“Richie, you’ll be fine, alright? We’re going to get you out of here and to a hospital soon where actual doctors could fix you up, okay?

“Oh, but Dr. K, you’re doing a swell job, if I do say so myself.”

Eddie can’t bring himself to roll his eyes, he only grabs onto Richie’s hand tighter, pressing them both down against the wound.

“Beep, beep, Rich.”

Richie stays silent for only a moment before smiling again.

“When I do get to the hospital, will you stay with me? I don’t know anyone else who would wait for me.”

He wasn’t sure if is was the slight slurred tone to Richie’s voice, or the loneliness of the actual statement that made the first tears finally fall.

“I would never leave you, Richie. _Never._ I’d sit by your bedside for years if I had to.”

Richie nodded, “Even if I had that flesh-eating disease you spoke so fondly of?”

Eddie chuckled. Even as he lay dying, Richie could always cheer him up.

“Yeah, even then. Although I may steal your jello as compensation.”

“Of course, you would, you old fucking man.”

Eddie laughed with Richie as more tears fell down his face. Behind him, he could hear the losers yelling and cursing at It. Richie noticed as well.

“You should help them out, may move the whole killing process along a bit faster.”

Eddie shook his head, “No way am I leaving you like this. Not in a million fucking years, dude.” Richie let go of the sweatshirt, holding Eddie’s hand and rubbing his fingers over the scrapped skin lining Eddie’s knuckles.

“Eds, I’ll be waiting for you right here. Don’ worry about me, the losers need your help.”

Eddie shook his head, wiping his eyes with his free hand.

“Rich- “

“Eddie, go ahead, it’s alright.”

Eddie nodded, knowing that the faster they killed this fucking clown, the faster it would be for Richie to get to a hospital. Eddie makes to stand up before pausing.

_Fuck._

He places his hand on Richie’s cheek, and his friend smiles up at him again.

_I love him._

“Love you Eds. Always have, always will.”

_“You’re Braver than you think”._

_Not as brave as you apparently._

_Fuck, I’ve always loved you too, Richie._

“Don’t call me Eds.” He leans in and places a kiss to the corner of Richie’s mouth. It’s gentle and quiet and everything he and Richie never _were_. He pours everything he can into that chaste kiss; 27 years of lost time, 27 years of forgotten memories, and a whole lifetime of loving someone so deeply and unapologetically. It’s a promise that he is Richie’s, now and forever.

“I love you too, Richie. Always have, always will.”

With one last look at the man in front of him, Eddie stands up and runs to the clown, who is backed into a corner. The image of Richie impaled by the monster in front of him blinds him for a moment, and he doesn’t think before ripping the claw off Its body and tossing it to the side.

“You’re just a fucking clown!”

“You’re a mimic!”

“You’re a bully!”

“You’re a clown!”

“Clown!

“Clown!”

“Clown!”

And soon, even the clown was dead. Eddie couldn’t celebrate with the others because of-

“Richie.”

They all run over, seeing that Richie is still propped up where they had last left him. Eddie kneels, excitement written on his face.

“Rich, hey man, we did it! We killed Pennywise, Richie.”

Except unlike before, Richie’s eyes were now empty. A ghost of a smile laid on his face, and his bright, expressive eyes held nothing.

Eddie was gentle with Richie, he didn’t want to freak him out, or cause him more harm. Eddie couldn’t find it in himself to be gentle anymore.

“Richie man, this isn’t fucking funny, c’mon, wake up.” He slapped him cheeks lightly, trying to rouse him. Bev sobbed behind him, and he shook his head.

“No, no, no, no, he was just talking to me. He said he would be here when I got back.”

Just like everything within Eddie, the cistern began shaking. He barely noticed.

“Rich, don’t do this, wake up. If this is some shitty joke, you better cut it out now, no one’s laughing man.”

Bev stepped up behind him. “Eddie? Eddie, listen,”

He stopped, turning slightly, “What?”

Bev shook her head, tears falling down her face. “Honey, Richie’s-he’s dead, Eddie.”

Eddie just stared at her a moment before turning back to the body in front of him. Someone kept yelling that they had to leave, but Eddie stopped listening, grabbing onto Richie. He carded his fingers through the man’s hair and sobbed.

_I didn’t even get a chance to fuck it up. I didn’t get the chance to make it work_

_This isn’t fucking fair._

Two pairs of arms grabbed him and began pulling him back, and Eddie _panicked._

“Let me go! Let me go! I can’t leave him here; I can’t leave him in here alone!”

Eddie reached for Richie, grabbing his face and jacket, trying to cling on for dear life. The arms were stronger though, and he got pulled farther and farther away from Richie. Debris fell faster, and rocks broke off from the roof of the cavern, crushing everything below.

“LET ME GO! I CAN’T LEAVE HIM, I TOLD HIM I WOULD STAY!”

Before he knew it, Richie was out of his sight, and he was getting pulled through grey water.

“I can still make it to him, let me stay with him! _LET ME STAY_!”

The arms wouldn’t give up, yanking and dragging the hysterical man behind them. The sewers became the well, which became the house on Neibolt, which became the outside world. Eddie fell onto the grass and spun around in time to see the structure collapse into itself. He stood up but was held back from rushing back inside.  
“ _RICHIE! RICHIE!”_

As the house finally fell, Eddie’s legs gave out and he sat on the dry grass, knowing the love of his life, someone he forgot, but could never really _forget_ , was crushed below.

It was every nightmare he never knew he had come to life. Only then, as the house settled, did he realize he was gripping something in his hand. Eddie dropped his head to look and-

_“I can’t see!”_

_“You look like a fucking bug, Rich”, “Well your mother must really be into creepy crawlies, since she couldn’t get enough of me last night.”_

_“I told you to watch where you put those Richie, you’re practically blind without them, dipshit!”_

The plastic creaked under the pressure of Eddie’s hand.

_“You’re braver than you think”._

Eddie hid his head into his knees and sobbed.

He didn’t feel brave at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and getting through my weird writing style, hopefully it wasn't too terrible to read! Let me know what I can improve on or if ya liked it!


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